Compared to Estimates, Iridium (IRDM) Q4 Earnings: A Look at Key Metrics

Core Insights - Iridium Communications reported revenue of $212.99 million for the quarter ended December 2024, reflecting a 9.4% increase year-over-year and surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $203.78 million by 4.52% [1] - The company's EPS was $0.31, up from $0.30 in the same quarter last year, and significantly exceeded the consensus EPS estimate of $0.16 by 93.75% [1] Financial Performance Metrics - The average revenue per user (ARPU) for Commercial Voice and Data was $45, slightly above the estimated $44.97 [4] - ARPU for Commercial IoT Data was reported at $7.29, exceeding the average estimate of $7.04 [4] - ARPU for Commercial Broadband was $268, slightly below the estimated $270.57 [4] - Total net billable subscriber additions were -22 thousand, falling short of the average estimate of 45.3 thousand [4] - Revenue from subscriber equipment was $21.60 million, surpassing the average estimate of $18.68 million, marking a year-over-year increase of 37.9% [4] - Service revenue totaled $154.02 million, in line with the average estimate of $154.04 million, representing a 4.1% year-over-year increase [4] - Engineering and support service revenue was $37.38 million, exceeding the average estimate of $30.80 million, with a year-over-year change of 20.3% [4] - Commercial service revenue was $127.27 million, slightly below the average estimate of $127.44 million, reflecting a 4.7% year-over-year increase [4] - Government service revenue was $26.75 million, close to the average estimate of $26.85 million, with a year-over-year change of 0.9% [4] - Hosted payload and other data service revenue was $15.41 million, below the average estimate of $15.84 million, showing a 1.5% year-over-year increase [4] - Government engineering and support service revenue was $34.48 million, exceeding the average estimate of $30.12 million, with a year-over-year change of 17.6% [4] - Commercial engineering and support service revenue was $2.90 million, surpassing the average estimate of $2.12 million, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 66.3% [4] Stock Performance - Iridium's shares returned +0.7% over the past month, compared to the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +3.9% change [3] - The stock currently holds a Zacks Rank 3 (Hold), indicating expected performance in line with the broader market in the near term [3]